Blow the budget

Large, sumptuously furnished and high-ceilinged, the five-bed, west London home of Sir Peter and Lady Felicity Osborne has an impressive grandeur. Yet its funky mix of pop art, 18th-century engravings and Italian furniture is far from stuffy. "Our style is eclectic - a terribly overused word, but there isn't another to describe it," ventures an urbane yet relaxed Peter.

He's forgotten to mention another major characteristic of his home - namely its assured use of colour, from a juicily acid-bright Allen Jones painting in the hallway to an amethyst-coloured chaise longue in the living room. But his home's vibrant hues are hardly surprising, given that bold colour is the signature style of Peter's prestigious fabric and wallpaper company, Osborne & Little.

Peter cofounded the firm in 1968, the year he married Felicity, who now works on the development board of the Museum of London. They have four sons, one of whom is George Osborne, the shadow chancellor. Peter's business partner was his brother-in-law, the designer Antony Little, who retired four years ago. "The competition for wallpapers then was dire," recalls Peter, "and we called the mostly dingy papers around at that time 'porridge'." The hip term for the new wave of bolder, large-scale, geometric designs was "pattern push".

Creative director Little, who designed an iconic black and gold logo for Biba in the 60s, dreamed up most of the company's designs. If wallpapers can be erudite, his were: he was inspired by anything from Aubrey Beardsley and Celtic and Aztec patterns to the dragon motifs in the Brighton Pavilion. Today Peter is CEO and also plays a creative role. "I'm not creative director but an editeur," he says, citing a term used in textiles. "When we bring out a new product, it's a democratic decision-making process involving our entire team. But I draw the line at things I don't like. If I wouldn't want it in my home, I won't give it the thumbs up."

Clients include the Clintons, who decorated two rooms in their private apartments in the White House with Osborne & Little fabrics. "We went to a dinner there once for all those who had contributed to the redecoration of the White House and for leading figures in the worlds of art and architecture," recalls Felicity. "We were given free rein to wander around. I even sat in the swivel chair in the Oval Room although a hand reached out towards the president's phone to make sure that I didn't touch it. They were both very into interior design. Hillary Clinton is especially knowledgable and gave a speech about how it's changed over the years at the White House."

The Osbornes are passionate collectors of art and design. In the 70s, they bought Arts and Crafts furniture and art deco pieces, and although they have ditched much of the former, they've hung on to their favourites. "I'm very sentimental and find it hard to part with anything," says Felicity. Then came a penchant for Fornasetti and Memphis. "We like them because they're full of fun," says Peter.

Their art - mostly "modern British", they say - is by a mix of heavyweight names like Henry Moore and younger artists, such as a very pop papier-mâché dog covered in scraps of Beano comics by Justine Smith. Felicity also collects Beatles memorabilia, from a poster of the Fab Four signed by them to a 60s bubblegum-vending machine, which also dispensed free Beatles button badges.

The couple are self-confessed hoarders, but "the house is full and we don't have a second home, so there's not much space for anything else," says Felicity. Still, they regularly buy pieces in different media at the RCA graduate shows: two years ago, they acquired a painting by Jane Ward and this year a "beautiful glass bowl" by Charlotte Sale. They're not going to stop collecting and insist they use everything they own. "It's not a museum," laughs Felicity, although in a sense it is - a place packed to the wallpapered seams with design classics.